Trusting the Avalanche
by BaKanda-kun
Summary: Allen and Kanda have been sent on what they hope is a simple recovery mission in the mountains. However, it soon proves to be otherwise when the two are swept away in an avalanche. They must figure their way out of their new situation quickly, and learn to trust each other if they have any hope of doing so. Yullen/AreKan


**Pairing: Yullen/AreKan**

**Hey everyone! I haven't written anything in a while, but hopefully this is okay? It was originally for Yullen Week last December, but I didn't end up getting it done and edited in time. ^^; I hope you'll enjoy it now instead!**

Trusting the Avalanche

The exorcists had been trudging through the snow for hours – days, if you didn't count the seemingly nonexistent breaks in between. It felt like as soon as their limbs thawed, they had to go back out and freeze again.

Frankly, neither Allen nor Kanda was about to thank Komui for pairing them on this mission. Not only was the climate – a mountainous region in Austria – vastly unpleasant, but so was the company. Three days in the mountains with Kanda was far too long for Allen's liking.

Worse still, it had begun to snow, the flakes increasing rapidly in size and decreasing visibility. The wind, which wouldn't have been particularly bothersome were the temperature not well below freezing, stung Allen's ears, and he pulled his dark exorcist jacket closer around himself.

"Hey, Bean Sprout!" the Japanese man called from several paces ahead. "Hurry up, or we'll be stuck out here forever!"

Annoyance heated the younger male's face. "It's Allen. And if we move too quickly we'll miss the Innocence."

Kanda stopped altogether now. Turning around, his long black hair whipping around his face, he reminded his partner, "There probably isn't any Innocence to begin with."

Allen glared back at him, a miniature storm brewing between the two. "But if there _is_ Innocence here and we don't see it—"

"Just keep moving," the elder male cut him off, continuing on his way.

Fuming, Allen followed. Kanda always rushed headlong into things that required time and patience. It's not like Allen enjoyed being out in the snow all day either, but if it meant finding the Innocence by being a little more observant the first time around, he'd do it.

Kanda seemed to ignore Allen's presence as best he could for the next half hour or so as the snowfall escalated into a blizzard. Speeding snowflakes attacked any exposed flesh like tiny daggers, aided by the howling winds that made every step feel as though they were wading through half dried cement. Not to mention, neither could see more than a couple of feet in front of them. Even Kanda had to admit the weather wasn't exactly conducive to travel.

But, Allen thought, where were they supposed to go?

The exorcists were trapped, far from any lodgings, weighed down by a suitcase each –and in a blizzard, that small bit of luggage seemed like a hiking pack.

"Kanda!" Allen shouted over the noise. "What do you want to do?"

The raven –haired exorcist fixed him with a fierce glower, made slightly less menacing when he stumbled, turning to call back over the storm, "What the hell do you expect me to do?"

"We need to find shelter!" the white-haired boy replied, squinting into a particularly strong gust.

"Look around, Bean Sprout!" Kanda yelled back, soaked through with melted snow.

Allen glanced around, then realized how ridiculous his statement sounded. How were they supposed to find shelter when they could barely see where they were walking? They were lucky they hadn't tripped over a cliff yet.

It had become painfully clear that neither knew where they were going. Having the snow on the ground obscure their path had made things difficult enough, but at this point, they had strayed far from their intended course. They didn't even have to see where they were to know that they wouldn't recognize it. But as the storm raged on, they knew their only option for the moment was to keep moving, regardless of where they were heading. Any movement was better than standing still.

Both exorcists were now soaked to the bone, and Allen had tied Timcanpy's tail with numb fingers to his suitcase handle so the little golem wouldn't be blown away.

Meanwhile, Kanda looked almost frozen despite himself. A sheen of ice had formed in his hair atop his head, the only part of it that wasn't flying around. His movements had become stiff and mechanical, keeping on simply because he wouldn't let himself consider any other option.

By the time the blizzard began to die down, the two hardly noticed Mother Nature's lessening abuse on their persons. It wasn't until the falling snow started to clear and the sun peeked through the clouds that they allowed themselves to feel relieved.

Allen had expected the light to warm him, even a little, but all it did was bounce off the glittering white surrounding the two, blinding him. Kanda displayed no visible sign of discomfort now, plowing through all obstacles.

Neither spoke, and Allen became aware of the eerie silence closing in on them. He crossed his arms, rubbing his hands up and down the saturated sleeves of his uniform in a futile attempt to generate some warmth. All it did was succeed in reminding him of just how unpleasant the whole situation was.

"Kanda—" he finally called before his addressee hissed at him to be quiet.

"Shut up or you'll cause an avalanche," Kanda said, his voice low.

The younger boy wanted to argue, but he knew Kanda was right. Not knowing their exact location, making any sort of noise here would be dangerous.

And so they moved on.

The only problem was, as they did so, the terrain became even more difficult – rockier, slipperier. Both exorcists fought to keep their balance, using their suitcases from time to time to keep themselves steady. If it weren't for that small use, Allen might have just dropped his off.

He was beginning to contemplate doing so anyway when they spotted a niche in the mountainside. It barely qualified as shelter, but they would take what they could get.

Kanda made it to the mouth of the tiny cave with relative ease, if little grace. He'd just set down his suitcase when he glanced back to find Allen still struggling toward him. The kid was pathetic, he thought. Cross couldn't be all that tough a master if his apprentice couldn't even crawl to a cave entrance.

The fifteen-year-old was only a handful of paces away when he lost his footing, letting go a sharp yelp and sliding a third of the way back from where he came.

The echo bounced around the emptiness of the mountain, both boys freezing in place as they waited for it to fade. It seemed to take forever, like time had stopped specially for them so they could feel the adrenaline pumping through their veins that much longer.

Kanda had just released the breath he'd been holding, watching as Allen scrambled for his suitcase and started back toward him when a deep boom shook the side of the mountain.

Without thinking, Kanda leapt out of the cave toward his companion. He would drag him up if he had to.

At least, that's what he thought before he saw the avalanche roaring toward them at an incredible speed.

By then, another instinct had taken over. He sprinted toward Allen, who had barely gathered his feet, grabbed the kid by the collar, and shouted, "Move it!"

Allen, whose brain was as numb as his limbs, had to be dragged several yards before realizing they were in deep trouble. They knew there was no way they could outrun an avalanche, but they tried anyway. Timcanpy, having long since come undone from Allen's luggage, zipped by overhead as the two practically tumbled down the mountain. It didn't even matter how they got down, just that they did.

The rumbling snow gained on them, the ground quaking beneath their feet. This time, Kanda tripped, barrel rolling a few paces, but not before Allen collided with him, flying forward with gathered momentum.

Staying still for any length of time spelled doom, and as soon as they stopped, they knew they were done for. As quickly as they scrambled to their feet and regained their previous speed, that of the snow had only increased.

Within seconds, it swallowed them up, carrying them down the already snow covered mountain. Kanda tried to swim as best he could along the surface, gasping for air when he wasn't being forced under the snow.

Allen wasn't faring nearly as well. In a panic, he clung to the suitcase that should have been abandoned as soon as they started running downhill. But now it was like his lifeline. As long as he gripped that handle, he would live. That's what he told himself.

In reality, it felt like he was being rolled downhill in a giant snowball. It was almost impossible to breathe the way the snow piled itself on top of him. He'd forgotten what he was supposed to do in this situation. He hadn't anticipated it, hadn't planned for it. He was at the total mercy of the avalanche and gravity.

It seemed to take forever for it to stop. By then, Allen was buried beneath the snow, terrified, with no idea where Kanda and Timcanpy were. He remained trapped beneath the snow, waiting and waiting for someone to uncover him. He only had a small pocket of air, and it wasn't enough to sustain him for long.

Before he knew it, a fuzzy blackness rimmed the edges of his vision, tunneling further and further until unconsciousness overtook him. Just before he drifted off, his only thought was that there was no way he would make it through this.

Allen woke to the sound of shuffling around him. Although he was conscious, he still couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. But there was one thing he recognized above all else.

Warmth. It enveloped his body like an old friend hugging him after years apart. It spread through him, from his core out to the tip of every limb. He couldn't still be in the mountains, he thought. Maybe he wasn't even alive anymore. Maybe he'd died and could now rest in a warm, dry place.

But if that were it, he reasoned with himself, why did he feel so weak?

As a matter of fact, the more his senses returned to him, the more he realized that not every part of him was comfortable. His right arm, pressed against an uncomfortably hard surface, was numb and his whole body was stiff.

Gradually, he forced his eyelids apart, focusing blearily on a dancing orange form beside him.

_A fire_, he thought sluggishly.

Pushing himself up with shaky arms, he got hit with a shock of frigid air as a double layer of blankets fell from his shoulder. Where _was_ he?

His mind worked slowly, trying to recall the events just before he'd lost consciousness. He'd been climbing the mountain with Kanda. He was looking for Innocence. There was a blizzard. He tried to get to a cave. There was an avalanche. They were running. And then he'd been swallowed up.

All at once, it hit him. Kanda. He'd been traveling with _Kanda_.

Allen swiveled where he sat, looking for the Japanese man. He tried to get his newly thawed legs to move the way he wanted them to, only to fall head first toward the fire.

He would have burnt his white hair to a crisp, had a firm hand not grabbed his shirt collar, yanking him back again.

"You idiot," a gruff voice growled sharply from behind him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Swaying, despite the fact that he was still planted where he'd awoken, Allen swiveled to face an obviously disgruntled Kanda. The man towered over the fifteen-year-old's small frame, fixing him with a severe glare that bored straight through him in his feeble state. Timcanpy fluttered in behind the Japanese exorcist, circling Allen before settling his body, now the size of a cantaloupe, against the boy's stomach.

"I-I was going to look for you," Allen stammered, absently laying a hand on the golem in greeting.

"Who do you think brought you back here?" Kanda scoffed. He looked away, as if embarrassed, before dropping another log into the fire.

It was then that Allen really took in his surroundings. They were in a flimsy, severely weather beaten wooden shack. The place was bare, devoid of any furnishings, save the dust covering the floor like a makeshift carpet. There were no panes in the windows, and the door hung on its hinges. Suddenly it made sense why it was so cold despite the fire.

As for said fire, Kanda had built it in an old, long unused stone fireplace. Scorch marks adorned the edges of the sooty cavity where the wood crackled and popped in the heat of the flames.

Allen peered out the windows from his spot on the floor. Although he was no expert on direction, he knew they hadn't been here before. It was a thickly wooded area with much less snow than the place they'd been ousted from. Not to mention, there had been no cabins or houses of any kind on their path before.

"Where are we?" he finally asked, turning back to his fellow exorcist, who prodded at the fire with another log.

"How the hell should I know?" Kanda retorted, not so much as glancing up from his task.

"You could look at the map," Allen suggested, mildly irritated at Kanda's immediately sour attitude.

This time he did look up, tossing the firewood into the flickering heat. "Bean Sprout—"

"Allen," the younger male corrected him.

"_Bean Sprout_," Kanda repeated. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough that I wouldn't think to check the map?"

"You're stupid enough that you didn't remember to look for Innocence while we were walking earlier," Allen commented. By now he felt some of the strength returning to his mind and body, albeit slowly. Still, he didn't dare try to get up, for fear of plunging into the fire again.

"I was smart enough to dig your ass out of the snow," the Asian man informed him. "The map was lost in the avalanche." He seemed about to say more before wincing and putting a hand to the back of his head.

"What's wrong?" Allen asked, argument instantly forgotten.

"It's none of your business," Kanda answered defensively, and a little too quickly.

"If something's bothering you—"

"I said it's nothing." His tone said to drop the subject, and there would be no changing his mind.

For the moment, Allen would humor him. He moved back to their earlier beginnings of a conversation instead. "So you really don't know where we are?"

"If you're hard of hearing after being asleep for two days, I told you the map was lost," Kanda snapped.

But Allen had stopped listening halfway through his retort. "Two days?! How—I…what did—"

"This isn't the kind of place for those who can't survive it," Kanda stated with a meaningful glower.

"I'm not dead," Allen retorted, glaring right back.

"You would be if I hadn't found you," Kanda countered sharply.

Allen fumed, unable to come up with an argument. It was true. Kanda had saved his life. But he'd have to be crazy to tell him so and give the man another reason to call him useless. So he changed the subject instead.

"How long are we staying here?"

"It's not an inn, Bean Sprout," Kanda grumbled, leaning against a wall decorated with a layer of dust and dirt as thick as that on the floor. "We're leaving as soon as you can get up without burning your face."

Allen flushed in embarrassment. "I'm fine," he mumbled to his knees, not wanting to tell Kanda that, in actuality, he would be content to curl back up under the blanket and sleep a little more. He was pretty dizzy, after all, and the weakness lingered in his body.

While he contemplated this, a cool hand slipped beneath his bangs. He winced at the difference in temperature, wondering for a moment who else was in the cabin with them. After all, there was no way Kanda would voluntarily touch him, especially for something so trivial as checking his temperature.

But when Allen looked up, that was exactly what was happening. The samurai stood over him, frowning.

"K-Kanda?" the younger exorcist piped up hesitantly.

"Better," Kanda declared, taking his hand back. "But not enough."

Allen was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

The elder offered his customary "che" in displeasure. "You get tossed down a mountain and buried in snow and you expect to be fine?"

"Well, I—"

"Being cursed doesn't make you invincible." Although the words would have been otherwise callous, something in the Japanese man's tone conveyed another intent. But what, exactly?

After a moment of thought and getting past his initial offense, it sounded to Allen like Kanda cared.

_Not likely_, he thought, not realizing he was staring at his companion as he tried to figure out just what the strange quality of his voice meant. It was just abnormal and didn't sound right coming from Kanda of all people. It wasn't like him to care about anything other than his mission.

"What is it?" Kanda demanded, tired of being stared at by some cursed kid.

"N-nothing," Allen dismissed, going back to staring at the floor. The spot around him had been cleaned – at least more so than the rest of the area.

"Go back to sleep, then." He pushed himself away from the wall, moving toward the door.

"What?" Allen's confusion only grew by the moment. "I thought you wanted to leave!" he called as Kanda stepped out into the snow. He didn't turn back when he replied.

"I don't want to carry you if you pass out from fever." There was the tone again.

Allen had no doubt that Kanda really didn't want to carry him, but he suspected that wasn't the only reason he was letting him rest a little more. The problem was, he had absolutely no idea what the other could be.

Regardless, he chose not to question it further, instead laying back down on the old floorboards. It was much less comfortable than he recalled from when he woke up, but after a while, the crackling heat of the fire lulled him to sleep.

_He was trapped beneath the snow again, fighting to dig his way to the surface. Which way was up?_

_It didn't matter, he decided, tunneling in whichever direction he could get through. He clawed at the snow, flakes falling down around him, deepening in the small cavity containing his body._

_It filled up, faster and faster, still building after he stopped trying to burrow out. He was suffocating, devouring what little oxygen he had in too short a time. His lungs burned with the need for more, throat convulsing as it tried to swallow any air it could find._

_But nothing worked._

_His vision took on a fuzzy quality, fading quickly until a beam of light cut across his eyes. Suddenly, he was being yanked upward, far less gently than he thought death would be. But he was free, soon coming to the realization that he wasn't dead, but saved by someone else._

_Kanda knelt on the packed snow beside him and their eyes locked. Kanda's held fear turned to relief as each exorcist kept his gaze on the other. _

_Allen waited. What was he supposed to do?_

_As he questioned himself, Kanda moved forward, wrapping the younger boy in a tight embrace. An embrace that felt safer than the open air after being trapped beneath an avalanche and warmer than the fire he'd fallen asleep to before._

Tenderness_, Allen thought semi-consciously, as Kanda released him. He reached out to draw the long-haired man back toward him, remembering only after he'd moved that he couldn't do that. He just couldn't._

_But the gesture didn't go unnoticed. Allen allowed his chin to be coaxed forward by his companion's calloused hand, bringing their faces within inches of each other. Their lips parted almost simultaneously, and Kanda leaned in._

_Allen's eyes widened as the samurai's hand now migrated to the nape of Allen's neck, sifting through soft white hair._

_Their foreheads were touching, mixing into yin and yang and then into an exquisite shade of gray. Allen chanced touching Kanda's face, his right hand landing awkwardly around the man's ear._

_He closed his eyes—_

And opened them to find Kanda's face much farther away. Like in the dream, their eyes met, but it was a far less civil introduction.

"K-Kanda," Allen gasped, sucking in great gulps of air. He was warm, too hot from the fire and the blankets and the fever. Raising his body on quaking limbs, he was surprised when Kanda knelt beside him, mind suddenly flashing back to midway through his dream.

"It was a nightmare," Kanda reassured him, putting a hand to the younger's shoulder to keep him from getting up.

But there were two things wrong here, the first being that Kanda didn't sound like he was chastising his companion. The second, that it most certainly was not a nightmare. Not at the end, anyway.

Remembering it, Allen blushed deeply, turning away in hopes that Kanda would assume the color was from his earlier fever. Dizzy embarrassment overwhelmed him as he stared blankly into the hearth.

"Bean Sprout," Kanda prompted, turning the boy's attention involuntarily back to him.

"Allen," the boy corrected him reflexively.

As usual, Kanda ignored him. "We have to go." The Japanese man stood, regaining a little of his steely personality and putting out a hand to help Allen to his feet.

Allen blinked stupidly, reaching up to take it. "What? Go where?"

"Out of _here_," Kanda snapped, blunt as always. Before he could give any further explanation, Allen stumbled forward, legs still unwilling to support his weight on their own. Instinctively, Kanda wrapped his arms around the boy holding him upright against his well muscled chest.

And, as if Kanda catching him weren't surprising enough, the man then swept him up off the floor, carrying him as if he really were a young child.

"P-put me down, I can walk," Allen protested feebly, wriggling around slightly.

"Stop moving," Kanda ordered. "You can't even stand, and I won't waste time waiting until you can."

This would've been easier if Allen were still passed out. Or if it were anyone carrying him but Kanda. Allen certainly felt the residual awkwardness from the dream as Kanda's steps reverberated up to his ear, pressed against the rough fabric of Kanda's uniform.

But anything was better than the silence while they trudged through the snow. "S-so where are we going?" Allen asked, still unanswered from earlier.

"Quit asking," Kanda snapped, though he did continue. "I heard another avalanche while you were sleeping yesterday. It's dangerous here, so we're moving somewhere safer." He paused, casting a disapproving eye at his comrade. "I thought you'd be able to move on your own by the time you woke up."

Allen's cheeks heated with a combination of anger and shame. There was no way he could've prevented this. Kanda had no right to blame him, especially considering he was the one who got them in this mess to begin with.

"Not my fault," he finally muttered, face still buried in the samurai's chest.

Kanda said nothing, just uttered his customary "che" and kept on his journey. He knew it wasn't really the kid's fault. He knew the way he'd escaped the avalanche was pure luck, and that if he hadn't had that, they'd probably both be dead now.

The only problem was that his head ached horribly. There was only so much luck one person could have, he supposed, and in surviving to rescue that bean sprout, it was to be expected that there was no way he'd be comfortable doing it. Not after hitting his head.

But he didn't dwell on it and kept walking as his charge dozed in his arms.

Briefly, he wondered whether he should have been in such a rush to leave the abandoned cabin. It was shelter, which was vastly better than anything they'd had before. There was a fire, and walls to keep out most of the wind. The more he thought of all the things such a simple construction had offered, the more he considered going back.

But the thought of another avalanche swallowing them up was enough to keep him moving away from the place. And so he trudged through snow up to his knees, Allen in his arms, occasionally jerking awake and trying to tell Kanda that he could walk just fine. Still, as tired as the latter became, he'd be damned if he let Allen know.

It wasn't until nearly dusk that they were forced to stop. Fortunately, Kanda had found an inlet in the side of a cliff in the mountainside, hardly wide enough for the two exorcists to fit in together.

While Allen lay unconscious on the floor of the tiny cave, Kanda gathered a collection of snow-covered twigs in hopes of building a fire. Although he took the driest he could find, the sodden branches wouldn't catch a spark. He'd expected as much, but it was still disheartening. Now what were they supposed to do for warmth?

It was around the time he finally kicked the pile of kindling in frustration that Allen stirred. "Kanda?" he mumbled in a bleary daze. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Kanda said, more harshly than the situation warranted. But there was, quite literally, nothing for him to report to the weak boy on the floor. "Just don't expect a fire tonight." He folded his arms grudgingly and leaned against the wall.

"It's cold," Allen slurred, pushing himself up and hugging his knees where Timcanpy perched, teetering slightly at the movement. Allen stroked the golem between its little horns.

"I just said we don't have a fire, stupid bean sprout!" Kanda barked, letting his anger at the situation strike at his partner.

"It's Allen." The fifteen-year-old seemed to awaken further at the sound of his distasteful nickname. "If we can't have a fire, then we have to do something else."

"Like what?"

Reaching out a trembling hand, Allen gripped the hem of the man's coat. "Um…well, people are warm, so…" He trailed off, hoping Kanda would get the implication.

Unfortunately, the man was so utterly thick that any attempt at subtlety was completely lost on him. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded angrily, not impressed at Allen's seeming change of subject.

"I'm talking about huddling together, stupid!" he blurted, heat rising in his cheeks.

"Wh-what?!" the elder spluttered, reflexively sidestepping away from his companion. Or he would have, if said companion hadn't had an iron-fisted hold on his uniform.

"Don't be an idiot," Allen said, keeping his expression steady, even as his heart pounded in his chest. "If we're going to stay alive, we have to do _something_."

As much as Kanda seemingly hated the prospect of sitting so close to Allen – or anyone, for that matter – he reluctantly, sank against the wall of the cave. He sat stiffly beside the boy, who seemed fairly content in their situation, as Timcanpy wedged itself between the two. Kanda tried to prevent their bodies from touching as best he could, but every time he inched away, Allen inched just a little closer, making the golem uncomfortable enough that it resigned itself to sleeping on Allen's other side.

Eventually, the samurai gave up, too, not wanting to move himself outside in the frozen climate. After all, he had to admit, the bean sprout was pretty warm. Then again, he probably still had some kind of fever.

Relenting, the Japanese exorcist let himself relax a little.

But he had to stay awake, he told himself. Falling asleep here was the last thing he wanted to do, especially on top of Allen.

He leaned his head back against the rock, only to wince and grunt as a sharp pain spread through his skull.

Allen, who had only just started dozing off again, felt Kanda jump and glanced up to see his teeth gritted against the sensation. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern making it marginally easier for him to focus.

"Shut up," Kanda growled shortly, though he shifted forward so as to avoid anymore contact with the back of his head.

"Quit acting like nothing's bothering you," Allen said. "If it hurts, you have to tell somebody, and I'm the only one here."

Kanda hesitated, not keen on the idea of admitting his shortcomings. "It's none of your business," he grumbled half-heartedly.

Allen only pressed him further. "You're going to bring us both down with that attitude."

Finally, with a deep sigh, Kanda confessed. "I hit my head," he mumbled, barely audible, even in the quiet of the night on the mountain.

He felt Allen's gaze boring through the side of his head. The white-haired boy's brows furrowed in discontent. "When?"

"During the avalanche," he explained, adding, "Before I dug you out of the snow."

When Kanda didn't continue as Allen expected, he said, exasperated, "Do I have to ask you for everything before you to tell me anything useful?"

"Shut up, bea—"

"_Allen._"

Although he didn't correct himself on the boy's name, Kanda obliged by explicating just how he'd injured himself. "After the avalanche stopped, it threw me downhill. The back of my head hit the outside of the cabin. That's all."

Allen's eyes widened with shock. "_That's all?_" he repeated incredulously. "Has it been hurting since then?"

After another moment of hesitation, Kanda gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Allen's face hardened, unimpressed with Kanda's attempted resilience. "You're really stupid sometimes," he said with a deep frown. "What if you'd fractured your skull?"

"What was I supposed to do with you passed out for two days?" Kanda retorted, unimpressed with Allen's worrying.

"Turn around and let me see," Allen said, undeterred by Kanda's protests.

"See _what_?" Kanda remained rooted to the spot.

"If you don't turn on your own, I'll make you," the younger boy threatened, snatching a fistful of Kanda's dark ponytail.

Despite his determination not to make a scene out of his injury, the last thing he wanted was for Allen to pull his hair and aggravate it more. He hadn't bothered to pay much attention to it himself, but he knew it was bad enough that yanking on his hair would be quite painful. So he obeyed and allowed Allen to inspect the back of his head.

"Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" the younger exorcist asked in a mild panic.

"I'm not!" Kanda replied, peering over his shoulder in annoyance.

"Not _now_," Allen clarified. "You should take better care of yourself!"

Kanda, in the middle of forming some sort of irritated reply, gasped instead as Allen touched the tender spot. He was made all the more aware of the relentless pounding in his skull that hadn't quite left him alone for days. Until now, he'd tried his best to ignore it.

"Quit poking—"

"Be quiet!" Allen, concentrating on his comrade's wound, certainly didn't find his fellow exorcist qualified to tell him what to do. At least he was doing something, he thought, whereas Kanda had left this whole mess unchecked since they'd been tossed down the side of the mountain.

"Since when are you—"

"Shut up," It was rather unlike the scrawny fifteen-year-old to give such sharp orders. "I don't know what you did to yourself since you hit it, but it doesn't look good," he deduced.

"Get off me, then," Kanda said flatly, his patience running out. "And I didn't do it to myself!" he added, Allen's words sinking in slowly.

Allen wobbled and sat back on his heels. "Don't push yourself, okay?"

Kanda gave a humorless snort. "Look who's talking."

"I told you, I can travel on my own," Allen assured him, determination set into everything from the rigidity of his jaw to the hardness in his eyes to the way he sat considerably straighter when he spoke.

"Hmph." Kanda had little faith in his partner. What had he done since they'd been stranded? Absolutely nothing but have Kanda carry him all over creation because the kid couldn't even stay awake for more than an hour.

"Do you trust me?" Allen asked suddenly, moving closer so his arm pressed against Kanda's.

The samurai blinked away a wave of dizziness, resting his head in one hand. "No," he said through gritted teeth.

"Then we can stay awake together," Allen concluded with the ghost of a smile aimed up at Kanda.

"Bean sprout, I—"

"How many times do I have to tell you, that's not my name?" The boy shivered, pressing their two bodies against one another. Kanda suppressed his automatic response of shying away from the contact. Admittedly, he was pretty cold, and Allen was exceptionally warm, even if he didn't know it.

Kanda sighed. "Where's that blanket?" He knew very well that it was around Allen's shoulders and had been since they'd left the cabin. Since they'd arrived there, for that matter. In fact, the few hours Kanda had slept, he'd just taken another dusty spot on that floor, uncovered but for his exorcist uniform and a cloak. All in all, his situation had been none too comfortable.

But now, Allen took the blanket from one of his shoulders, draping it over the both of them. Instantly, Kanda felt the fabric saturated with the bean sprout's body heat warm his own icy limbs. He hadn't even realized just how numb they were until they began to thaw.

Soon, he felt his head drooping forward, his eyelids drawing closed over and over as he struggled to maintain consciousness. Now that he'd slowed down, stopped moving, even for a second, his body's impulse to sleep had begun to overtake him. He needed it, he knew. But with this stupid bean sprout to look after, there was no way he'd let himself drift off so easily.

Allen pretended not to notice at first, the way Kanda kept slumping forward before jerking upright again. Every time he did, the next bob of his head followed the former more quickly. It got to the point where Allen was afraid that if he allowed this to continue, Kanda would end up with injuries on both the front and back of his head.

Finally, he shook the man's shoulder, gently so as not to alarm him. "Kanda," he whispered.

Kanda started awake anyway, ready to spring up and slice whatever was attacking them to pieces until Allen pulled him back down.

"It's okay, it's okay," Allen hurriedly reassured him. "You're just falling asleep."

"Damn it," Kanda murmured, situating himself so as to make dozing off more difficult.

That is, until Allen moved to still him with a firm grip on both shoulders. "You're still human," he reminded the indignant exorcist before settling back on the ground. "Get some rest."

"But—"

Before he could utter another syllable, Allen cupped a hand to the far side of Kanda's head, pillowing it on the parasitic type's shoulder. When Kanda tried to resist, Allen held fast, going so far as to grab one of the long strands of hair that fell over Kanda's ears.

"Don't get up," he ordered. "I promise I'll wake you up in a few hours, but even you need to sleep."

"Stupid bean sprout," Kanda slurred, already dozing now that he no longer had to support his head. "I already told you I don't trust you."

Allen smiled, not even bothering to amend the nickname as he ran gossamer fingers through the strand of black hair. "That's fine," he breathed, just audible enough that, if Kanda were awake, he might have heard.

**Thanks very much for reading! Please let me know your thoughts - I love getting them, critique and praise alike.**

**Something I forgot to mention in the beginning: I do intend to make a second part to this. Originally, for Yullen Week, it was going to be a series of several fics, but a two-shot is more manageable and...well, my history of not finishing things begs me not to commit to too much. Anyway, I'm in the process of writing the next part, so if you liked this, please look forward to it. ^_^ Thanks again~! **


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